


Second Chances: Adjustments

by callboxkat



Series: Second Chances [2]
Category: Sanders Sides
Genre: Food mention, Gen, Happy Ending, Homelessness, M/M, Patton and Logan are sweethearts, or optimistic at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 09:05:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16115219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callboxkat/pseuds/callboxkat
Summary: This is the sequel to Second Chances! It will make a lot more sense if you read that story first.





	Second Chances: Adjustments

When Patton received a text from his boyfriend telling him that he’d invited a homeless man to stay with them—someone he had known in high school, apparently—he was understandably surprised. As soon as his class ended, he called his boyfriend’s number.

Logan picked up on the second ring. “Patton?”

“Hey sweetie,” Patton said. “What’s this I hear about a guest?”

“You’re not mad, are you? I must admit I acted rather impulsively. I should have consulted you, first.”

“How could I be mad?” Patton replied. “That’s such a sweet thing of you to do, Lo.”

“…Val was mad,” his boyfriend reluctantly admitted.

Patton frowned, opening his car door and getting in. He put the phone on speaker so that they could keep talking as he drove home. “Oh. Sorry to hear that. I’m sure she’ll come around, though, right? She’s your sister, after all.”

“I hope so. Regardless… what time will you be home?”

“Maybe ten minutes. I’m just leaving now.”

And indeed, Patton arrived at the house roughly eight minutes later. He grabbed his bag from the backseat, locked the car doors, and then went up to the house. Not wanting to dig through his bag to find his house keys, he rang the doorbell.

His boyfriend opened the door and Patton bounced inside, a smile on his face. “Logan!!” he said, reaching out for him. He slung his arms around Logan’s neck, going up on his tip toes to kiss him loudly on the cheek. (Logan didn’t particularly enjoy kisses on the lips, but Patton didn’t mind).

“That was highly unnecessary,” Logan said, but Patton saw his boyfriend’s blush and cute little pleased smile, even if he did try to hide them.

“Can I meet him? Where is he?”

“He’s in the guest room, but—.” Patton had started off in that direction, but Logan stopped him with a gentle grip on his wrist. “Patton, wait. He’s probably asleep.”

Patton stopped, pouting a little. “Oh. Okay,” Patton said before smiling again at Logan. “Well, I’m sure the kiddo needs his rest.” He looked around the room. “So, where’s Val? Is she here?”

“No, she’s staying with a friend tonight. She doesn’t… approve of our houseguest.”

Patton could understand that. Val might not like the idea of being in the house with a stranger, especially a man. But judging by the way Logan had said that, he got the feeling that that wasn’t the only reason.

“What’s wrong, Lo?”

Logan shook his head, taking Patton’s hand with a small, loving smile. “Nothing. Let’s make dinner. Then you can meet Roman.”

…

Roman could hear movement and voices downstairs. They were muffled and indistinct from here, so Roman couldn’t tell what was being said or anything, but Logan had told him that his boyfriend would be home around eight. In all likelihood, that was who Logan was talking to.

Roman himself was currently resting in the guest room, which Logan had led him to after their conversation. He was curled up on the bed, slowly tracing his fingertip over the embroidery on its pale blue comforter. Part of him wanted to go back to sleep, but he was also content to just continue lying there for a while. It was nice. Even when Roman had been in the shelter, their beds had been nowhere near as comfortable as this one. He didn’t even want to think about how it compared to the gazebo in the park, let alone the random places he had attempted to make due with after being kicked out of that.

He could almost pretend he was at home, back when he had had one, before everything had gone wrong.

…

“So, what’s he like?” Patton asked, stirring a pot of spaghetti while Logan set the table.

“Roman? He’s.…” Logan paused to consider. How to describe Roman? “Well, I must admit, he may have changed in the time since we last met. In high school, he was… I suppose you could say he was rather over-the-top.”

“Were you friends?” Patton looked back towards Logan, pausing in his stirring for a moment.

“Ah… no, not exactly.”

“Oh?”

“We were… well, I believe the word Roman used was ‘nemeses’. As I said, he could be rather over-the-top.”

Patton giggled, but he looked confused. “So, you invited your nemesis to stay with us?”

“It has been several years since we last saw each other. Besides… I thought perhaps I should give him a chance.”

Patton smiled. “Well, I’m looking forward to meeting him.”

It wasn’t much longer until the spaghetti was finished. Patton set the bowl of pasta on the table, and Logan went to fetch Roman. Patton had wanted to go with, but Logan had convinced his boyfriend that Roman might not appreciate being woken up by a stranger.

Logan went up the stairs and walked to the door to the guest room, which was slightly ajar. The room inside was dark. Logan pushed the door open a little more, rapping on it softly with the back of his knuckles.

“Roman? Are you awake?”

The man in question, lying on the bed, turned to look up at Logan. From the look of it, he had been awake for some time.

“Greetings,” Logan said, lowering his hand. “I came to inform you that dinner is ready.”

“Yeah.”

Logan paused. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” Roman sighed. He sat up. “Let’s go.”

The two of them headed downstairs. Roman’s feet were still clearly sore, but overall, he already looked much better than when Logan had first found him on the street. Still tired, still sore, still underfed, but better.

“Patton’s very excited to meet you,” Logan commented as they reached the bottom of the stairs. He looked up to where Roman was walking down behind him.

“Well, I hope I don’t disappoint.”

The two of them walked into the kitchen, and Patton looked up from where he was sitting at the table. A smile lit up his features as he pushed his chair back in order to get up. He went to Logan first, of course, and embraced him. After a moment, he pulled back and turned to Roman, his hands still on Logan’s arms. Patton’s smile faltered somewhat as he took in the other young man. Logan was suddenly glad that that his boyfriend hadn’t seen him earlier, before he’d had a shower and some rest.

“Hello!” Patton said brightly, and if Logan didn’t know Patton as well as he did, he would have been able to believe that he’d imagined the slip in his expression. Patton moved towards Roman, and after a short pause, as if making sure it was okay, pulled him into a hug.

…

“Sorry,” Logan was mouthing over Patton’s shoulder. But Roman just brought his arms up and hugged the other man back, a lump suddenly rising in his throat.

Roman couldn’t remember the last time someone had willingly touched him.

Patton held him tightly for a few seconds before pulling back, still smiling brightly. “Ready to eat? I hope you like spaghetti.”

Roman nodded, not quite trusting himself to speak.

The three of them sat at the table together. Roman waited until last to sit down, wanting to make sure he didn’t accidentally take anyone else’s spot.

Patton served everyone a helping of spaghetti, telling his boyfriend about his day as he did so. Roman didn’t really understand what they were talking about—he knew nothing about the pre-veterinarian program Patton was in, or any other aspect of their lives for that matter.

He looked down at his plate and noted that Patton had given him a bit more spaghetti than he had either himself or Logan. Was that on purpose? Or had Patton just not been paying attention?

Roman opened his mouth to point it out in case Patton wanted to undo the mistake, but Logan was laughing at something his boyfriend had said, and Roman fell silent out of a reluctance to interrupt. Instead, he just started eating.

“Do you like it?”

Roman froze. Patton had turned to address him. He swallowed, lowered his fork.

“Uh, yeah. Thanks.”

Patton smiled. “Oh, that’s great!” He set his own fork to the side. “I don’t know how much Logan told you, but I’m Patton. Logan’s my boyfriend.”

“I’m Roman,” Roman said awkwardly.

Patton looked delighted to hear this information from Roman himself. “I just want you to know that I’m 100% okay with you staying here for however long you need. Any friend of Logan’s is a friend of mine!”

_But we’re not friends, are we?_

At Roman’s silence, Patton and Logan shared a glance. Logan shrugged, and then the two of them resumed talking about their days. Roman went back to eating his spaghetti.

He knew that Logan, and now Patton, had both told him that they wanted him there. He knew that to them, it probably really wasn’t that big a deal to make some extra spaghetti and let him sleep in a room they weren’t using anyway. He could tell that they were both doing their best to make him feel included.

But Roman couldn’t help the sense of wrongness that settled around him like a heavy coat.

In spite of Logan’s insistence and Patton’s assurance, the fact still remained that Roman’s presence had driven away Logan’s sister, something that the couple seemed to be ignoring. There was also the fact that all of this was basically charity. Roman didn’t have a job, and he didn’t know how long it would take for him to get one: he couldn’t help pay for anything. Plus, there was that whole thing about him and Logan being former enemies.

Could they really blame Roman for being uncomfortable?

Some time passed. Roman didn’t speak again for the rest of the meal. Patton finished eating first, and he pushed back his chair.

“I’ve still got some homework to do. I’ll clean up after, okay?” he said, leaning over to kiss Logan on the cheek.

“No, let me do that,” Logan said. “You’ve been busy all day. You deserve a little time to relax.”

“Okay, sweetie,” Patton relented. “Thank you.” He squeezed Logan’s free hand, glanced over at Roman with a soft smile, and left the room.

Logan and Roman both finished eating a couple minutes later. Logan stood, picking up his own and Patton’s plates. Roman picked his up too and followed Logan to the sink.

“Roman, you don’t need to do that. I can take care of this,” Logan said.

“Yeah, but I, uh…” Roman said. He wanted to explain, but the idea seemed daunting at the moment.

Logan looked him up and down. He hesitated momentarily, but finally seemed to realize how important this was to Roman. Logan nodded, set the two plates he was holding on the counter, and went to grab a chair. He dragged it over to the kitchen and placed it in front of the sink so that Roman could sit down while he washed the dishes.

“I’ll just put the leftovers away, then,” Logan said, glancing once more in his direction before going back to the dining room table.

Roman sat down on the chair, taking the weight off of his sore feet, and reached for the dish soap and sponge. He could do this one thing to help out. He wasn’t completely useless.

…

Logan pulled saran wrap over the bowl containing the remaining spaghetti, pressing down on the edges to make sure it was firmly in place. He glanced up towards Roman, who was currently scrubbing the plates with his back to him, reaching awkwardly to reach the sink from the chair he was perched on.

Logan picked up the bowl and walked back into the kitchen with it. He opened the fridge door and slid the bowl inside. Listening to Roman behind him, he couldn’t help but notice that the man seemed to be using as little water as possible to wash the dishes.

He decided not to comment on it, instead going to grab the water glasses from the table. These he brought over to the sink, where Roman had just finished cleaning the last of the plates and had moved onto the knives and forks.

“Are you sure you do not desire my assistance?” Logan asked.

“I’m sure.”

“Okay.” Logan glanced once more at him, part of him wanting to say something, but not knowing what that something might be. He sighed, and then went to find Patton.

…

Later that night, Roman was back in the guest room, once again lying in bed and absently tracing the embroidery on its comforter. He was very tired, but at the moment, he was listening to the quiet, indistinct voices of Logan and Patton talking. He thought he could hear music playing, or perhaps it was the television. He couldn’t tell.

Once or twice, Roman thought he heard quiet footsteps coming down the hall and pausing outside the guestroom; but he pretended to be asleep; and he wasn’t bothered.

Roman wasn’t sure how long he lay there, but eventually, he really did fall asleep.

…

Roman slept late the next morning. When he woke up, he was startled to see that the clock on the bedside table read 11:13 AM.

He sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes, and pushed the blanket off of him. When he stood, Roman saw that someone had left a pile of folded clothes on the dresser along with a note. He picked up the note first: a folded page of notebook paper.

_Good morning, Roman!_

_Logan and I had hoped to say good-bye before we left for the day, but we both thought it would be better to let you sleep in. Logan should be home around five, and I’ll be back sometime around six. In the meantime, feel free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen. There’s cereal in the cabinet next to the microwave. We also have a few Disney movies if you want to watch a couple. Logan said you liked those. Make yourself at home!_

_Have a good day! We’ll see you tonight!_

_Patton <3_

…

Roman shuffled into the kitchen in socked feet about twenty minutes later, wearing another one of Logan’s outfits and with his freshly washed hair neatly combed back. He grabbed some cereal from the cabinet Patton had mentioned and fixed himself a bowl, which he ate at the kitchen table in silence. He cleaned the bowl and spoon, and then went into the living room.

Maybe he would watch a movie or two. It had been a while. Roman wasn’t even sure what the newest Disney movies were.

There were three bins under the television, each neatly labelled “Patton”, “Logan”, or “Val”. Roman didn’t want to watch Val’s movies because of… reasons, but he guessed that between Patton and Logan, the former was more likely to own some Disney movies. He pulled that bin out first. Unsurprisingly, it was indeed filled with colorful DVD cases, roughly half of which were Disney. Roman scanned their titles.

 _Finding Dory_? Roman hadn’t seen that one. He bit his lip, debating, before slowly retrieving that DVD from the bin.

And that was why, some hours later, Logan came home to find a half-dozing Roman watching Disney movies in the dark.

“Hey,” Roman mumbled when Logan came into the room, sitting up a bit straighter and rubbing at his eye.

“Hey,” Logan agreed. “Mind if I join you?”

Roman only made a noise in response, but Logan seemed to understand its agreeable tone. He settled himself on the other end of the couch.

Patton arrived a bit earlier than they had expected him, at about five-thirty. He walked into the room, still with his bag full of class materials, and spotted the two of them watching movies together. He put his free hand over his mouth. Roman was pretty sure he was trying not to squeal with delight.

Logan held out a hand, and Patton dropped his bag on the floor and came to join them on the couch. He cuddled up to his boyfriend as the three of them watched the opening scenes of  _Moana_.

Something that Roman hadn’t truly thought about while it was happening, but which he appreciated more than words could say, was that the two of them had let him have free reign of the house while they were gone. They didn’t even seem surprised to find him still here, and not halfway out of the country with all their valuables. They gave him the benefit of the doubt. They trusted him.

Tomorrow, Roman would start looking for a job. Tomorrow he would continue trying to find ways to help out his hosts. Tomorrow, no doubt, his insecurities would return.

But tonight, the three of them were going to watch some Disney movies.


End file.
